FOREWORD

IMAGINE, IF YOU WILL, STANDING ON YOUR HANDS HOLDING A PERFECTLY STABLE HANDSTAND.

Imagine that is 10m above water and you are on the edge of a diving platform. You are about to perform the exact same dive as your team mate, at the same time, and hit the water perfectly in unison. Add to that the atmosphere that it’s an Olympic final, the largest crowd to date fall silent and you could hear a pin drop.

Get it right and that dive defines the rest of your career, maybe even your life. Get it wrong and all manner of possible injuries could also significantly, negatively define the rest of your life.

Speak to any athlete, any sports man or woman, speak to any leader in business or any successful person in their field, and they would tell you that while that moment defines you, the years of preparation that go into that moment and every preceding moment is what truly defines you. It is those preceding moments that create the opportunity that stands before you for you to grasp.

While diving is predominantly categorised as an “individual” sport, we are all part of wider teams. At Olympic level this includes medics, physios, coaches, nutritionalists, personal trainers, to name a few. At entry levels though most of us are members of a club, and we will form part of a team. Do you remember during 2012 London Olympics when Tom Daly won his medal, and his team mates jumped into the pool to celebrate with him? It is an iconic image that illustrates that even as individuals, we are part of a team or a club.

The success of club requires a number of factors to be in place that creates the environment where individuals can flourish and be the best that they can be. Those elements are illustrated beautifully in Making Clubs Work.

Subsequent to **** I retired from competitive diving, and have been privileged to fulfil other roles in other teams, whether that be as coach or mentor, presenting on television, or working with a team of other speakers at a conference or seminar.

I didn’t realise until I sat down to analyse situations, but the principles that Brad covers are the very essence of what has been successful in the clubs i have enjoyed being a member of, and have been lacking in the clubs I did not enjoy being a part of.

Brad’s work in unpicking the complexity of what makes a club work successfully, and what can sabotage a club, and then to painstakingly piece it back together, is masterful. He is obviously passionate about the subject, and his ability to convey what could be a complex conundrum in such a simple, fun, easy to understand way reflects Brad’s personality and his ability to make it easy for the reader to get the message and implement it to achieve success.

BIOGRAPHY

Leon's passion for everything he does has helped him achieve sustained success at the highest level. Considered a feat in itself for such a physically punishing sport, his career lasted more than 20 years and his successes brought diving to the attention of the British public.
Training in the pre-lottery funding era in a minority sport brought its challenges but in the Athens Olympics of 2004, Leon and his diving partner Peter Waterfield, managed to secure Britain's first medal in the sport for 44 years. An honour which led to additional investment in the sport and the development of a new crop of British talent. He is acknowledged within the sport for pushing the boundaries of what's possible. In 1998 he invented 'the worlds most difficult dive' - a backward 2.5 somersaults with 2.5 twists in the piked position. The dive carried a tariff of 3.8 and was the most difficult dive performed in competition. Following a rule change in 2009, the dive tariff was changed to 3.6 but the dive is a legacy that continues to live long after Leon's competitive days.
Retiring from diving in May 2008, Leon is now an integral part of the BBC Sports Olympic coverage and has also been mentor to diving sensation Tom Daley. This latter role led him to write his first book. "MENTOR - The most important role you were never trained for" aimed at organisations wishing to engage and nurture talent through mentoring. In addition he is a much sought after speaker and conference host, a Brand Ambassador for BMW, BT and Lloyds Bank. He has picked up numerous Hot Yoga teaching qualifications and has even taught the brilliant Justin Lee Collins to dive! Leon is head judge on the Saturday night ITV show Splash!. Hosted by Vernon Kay and Gabby Logan, the contest sees Olympic hero Tom Daley teaching his sport to celebs, before they demonstrate their skills in a series of live shows.
Background
Leon was a hyperactive child and his parents were advised by doctors to channel his energy and enthusiasm into sport. As a result, he was introduced to swimming and gymnastics from the age of two and started diving as "just another sport" when he was eight. Three years later, Leon was under 12 national champion. Throughout a 16-year career representing GB Leon won medals at all major diving championships. He recovered from two separate shoulder surgeries to win a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and later fulfilled a life-time ambition with his 2004 Olympic Silver medal in Athens.
www.leontaylor.co.uk

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Making Clubs Work was published on 25 June 2014 and is available to purchase now from